# Does anyone eat cat meat? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 5, 2006, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-eat-cat-meat/371536 "2006-09-05T18:08:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Interrobang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/interrobang/32/17463_2.png) [@Interrobang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Interrobang)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2006, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-eat-cat-meat/371536/1 "2006-09-05T18:08:09Z")
No, I’m not eyeing my tabby for dinner. Dogs, horses, chickens – the meat of most domesticated animals is eaten in some cultures. But I can’t think of any cuisine that includes cat meat. Are there any cultures that traditionally eat cats? If so, which ones? If not, why not? ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2006, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-eat-cat-meat/371536/2 "2006-09-05T18:24:20Z")
Those Chinese restaurant jokes weren’t exactly made up from scratch. Cats are really eaten in parts of China as well as things like Chows and Chow puppies. Cats are pretty popular as food in Korea as well. [http://www.messybeast.com/eat-cats.htm](http://www.messybeast.com/eat-cats.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2006, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-eat-cat-meat/371536/3 "2006-09-05T18:34:44Z")
Most of the animals people eat on a regular basis aren’t exclusive carnivores, however. ---
**Author:** ![groman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@groman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/groman)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2006, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-eat-cat-meat/371536/4 "2006-09-05T22:39:07Z")
[QUOTE=Zsofia] Most of the animals people eat on a regular basis aren’t exclusive carnivores, however. [/QUOTE] People generally avoid carnivorous mammals and birds in general (You don’t really get that much of a choice with fish). Bears are eaten rarely, and canines/felines almost not at all. For me it’s a question of ethics, for most people I think it’s a matter of taste. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2006, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-eat-cat-meat/371536/5 "2006-09-05T23:25:53Z")
[A number of Koreans do, although it is illegal. A number of them also consume dog meat, again illegal.](http://www.animalpeoplenews.org/01/6/koreaShame0601.html) ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2006, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-eat-cat-meat/371536/6 "2006-09-06T01:20:27Z")
As omnivores, human can eat almost any animal. And at times, most have been tried: squirrle stew, possum stew, fried rattlesnake, crocodile burgers, etc. But there are some specific species that make up the bulk of human meat consumption: cattle, pigs, sheep & goats, poultry (chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese). These all have specific advantages that make them the primary meat animals: - docile herd animals. - efficient: good production of meat for feed consumed. - thrive on feed that humans don’t eat. - produce useful byproducts in addition to meat: leather, gelatin, bristles, pigskin, eggs, feathers. Animals like cats & dogs fail on most or all of those criteria. Horses, donkeys, mules fail on some; so generally only the old & sick ones are eaten by humans. So do most of the wild nimals: bears, lions, tigers, elephants, zebras, etc., so they are eaten only as curosities or in desperation. ---
**Author:** ![Eleusis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Eleusis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleusis)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2006, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-eat-cat-meat/371536/7 "2006-09-06T06:37:05Z")
I ate bobcat once. My dad’s second wife’s dad had shot one in Arkansas. They cooked it. I ate it. It was pretty fucking good. I half expected it to be tough and/or stringy but it was just “gamey”, and in a good way. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2006, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-eat-cat-meat/371536/8 "2006-09-06T07:29:22Z")
It’s so tough finding a store that carries Catburger Helper that I generally opt for something else. ---
**Author:** ![Eleusis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Eleusis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleusis)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2006, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-eat-cat-meat/371536/9 "2006-09-06T07:34:54Z")
[QUOTE=Snooooopy] It’s so tough finding a store that carries Catburger Helper that I generally opt for something else. [/QUOTE] I don’t know why they call it catburger helper, it tastes just fine by itself. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![priapus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@priapus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/priapus)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2006, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-eat-cat-meat/371536/10 "2006-09-06T07:58:35Z")
Alley cats are mostly gristle anyway(burp) ---
**Author:** ![T\_SQUARE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9de053/32.png) [@T\_SQUARE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/T_SQUARE)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2006, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-eat-cat-meat/371536/11 "2006-09-06T09:00:19Z")
Eating tiger parts is good medicine in some parts of Asia, but probably not what you had in mind. Also, I’ve read stories about big game hunters eating some lion, but I don’t think it’s wide spread by any means. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2006, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-eat-cat-meat/371536/12 "2006-09-06T11:40:24Z")
Anthropologist Marvin Harris addresses the issue of Dogs and Cats in one chapter of his book **Good to Eat**. Because dogs and cats are carnivores, it doesn’t make much sense to try and raise them domestically for food – you’re better off eating whatever you were going to feed them yourself (especially since you’d have to feed them more than you’d get back in meat). There are exceptions if you’re eating wild cats or wild dogs, because then you aren’t “paying the price” of providing their meat in the first place, but you have to balance that against the fact that, as hunters themselves (and necessarily fewer in number than the things they prey on), they’re hard to catch. It’s easier to hunt whatever they have as prey yourself. There were experiments by the Aztecs, apparently, to try to breed a dog that could be raised on grain, but they weren’t very successful. My readings suggest that even in cultures where dog (and, I’ll bet, cat) was eaten, it was still something of a delicacy, not a staple. In Polynesia women weren’t supposed to eat dog, but when they were pregnant they could demand anything, and almost invariably asked for dog (wouldn’t you?) Polynesians and Americans didn’t have many large domesticated herbivores, so it’s not suirprising they occasionally ate dog. But if you had to feed iot a lot of meat, I could see the sense of cutting out the middleman. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2006, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-eat-cat-meat/371536/13 "2006-09-06T15:08:44Z")
Yes. The [Bozo](http://www.ethnix.com/AlphaSearch/BOZO.html) tribe (yes, I’m serious) in Mali eats cats, and many of the tribes commonly eat dog. The Bozo are a subtribe of the Bambara and are primarily fishermen. ---
**Author:** ![Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alive_At_Both_Ends)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2006, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-eat-cat-meat/371536/14 "2006-09-06T15:20:49Z")
[QUOTE=Chefguy] Yes. The [Bozo](http://www.ethnix.com/AlphaSearch/BOZO.html) tribe (yes, I’m serious) in Mali eats cats, and many of the tribes commonly eat dog. The Bozo are a subtribe of the Bambara and are primarily fishermen. [/QUOTE] Yeah well, it makes sense for fishermen to eat cats. Gets rid of the competition. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Sal\_Ammoniac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Sal\_Ammoniac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sal_Ammoniac)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2006, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-eat-cat-meat/371536/15 "2006-09-06T17:05:12Z")
I’m told that cats are offered for eating in Ghana. The concept of bushmeat is a highly elastic one, it seems. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2006, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-eat-cat-meat/371536/16 "2006-09-06T17:27:53Z")
[http://www.havahart.com/bulletin/\_disc1/0000129a.htm](http://www.havahart.com/bulletin/_disc1/0000129a.htm) so do coons. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2006, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-eat-cat-meat/371536/17 "2006-09-06T17:46:43Z")
I suspect that eating Cat is probably a LOT of work. Such a small animal hasn’t very much meat, and after gutting and skinning it, you are probably left with mostly bone and gristle. It seems hardly worth it-unless you are starving. that is why I’m always amused about reports (of Chinese restaurants using cats, pigeons, etc., as a meat source). For the huge amount of work, it just isn’t worth it. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2006, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-eat-cat-meat/371536/18 "2006-09-06T18:36:40Z")
**ralph124c** , Starving…or horny. The line given to con the male population here into eating both cat and dog is “It will improve your performance and/or virility.” ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2006, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-eat-cat-meat/371536/19 "2006-09-06T22:14:35Z")
[QUOTE=ralph124c] I suspect that eating Cat is probably a LOT of work. [/QUOTE] [But so, so worth it](http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/cat_cora/article/0,1974,FOOD_9790_1670882,00.html). ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2006, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-eat-cat-meat/371536/20 "2006-09-07T01:23:12Z")
[QUOTE=T\_SQUARE] Eating tiger parts is good medicine in some parts of Asia [/QUOTE] No, not true! Some superstitious people may _believe_ that eating tiger ‘parts’ will improve their lagging virility, or will make them immune to poisonous snakebites, or have other medicinal effects, but this is all foolishness, none of these have ever been shown to have any medical effect. This board is about fighting ignorance, not spreading it. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-eat-cat-meat/371536.md?page=2)